Counting the countdowns...

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...kaboom!! heard it last night (or early this morning)...I woke up with a start (considering how early I usually sleep and also that I am so light a sleeper that even the ticking of he clock wakes me). Its Malaysia Day..and also the 3rd countdown of the year...Since I was awake anyway, I was suddenly thinking about countdowns and people's obsession with them...Why do we countdown?

Take for instance, the New Year...what do we think about when we countdown? all the happy things that happened throughout the year? like 10 (got a new job!), 9 (found my soul mate!), 8 (found rm 100!!), 7 (err..), 6 (ran out of good memories...), 5 (dang! now am feeling horrible), 4 (thank god the year is over!), 3 (thank god for a new year!), 2 (but not as if that's gonna be any better...), 1 (AARGHHH!!)...HAPPY NEW YEAR (or NOT!)...or do we think of all the bad things? But what's the point of that? Not as if you can change it 10 seconds before the new year comes...so why do we count it down?

Then there is Merdeka..now Malaysia Day...and who knows what else...why is the last 10 seconds of the previous year or the 10 seconds before the new year matter so much? Why do we let 10 SECONDS discount 365 days that we have...why do we reduce all the good things and the bad into a mere 10 seconds...is that all there is to the last whole year? or the whole coming year for that matter? its like a year's 10 seconds of fame and then we jump back into routine and monotone..10 seconds of fireworks and cheers and slaps on the back then we go back to our 'same ol, same ol..' isnt every new day important? isnt every second we take a breathe and live important?

If a countdown is something that marks importance then shouldn't we be counting down every day? even when we wait for the LRT on the way to a new job (I wouldnt recommend that if you are waiting for the Commuter or Rapid KL buses though...), or when we wait for the bride when she walks down the aisle? or even when we wait for the sun to set or rise each day?

So...why do we count down?

Been there..Done that...

This was the one time that I didnt even have to think of what I was going to call this post...it just came to me...'been there...done that...' or have I? I have finally stepped into the working world..3 months ago, after my final exams, i thought to myself, "am gonna take a week off, then am gonna get this awesome job with an awesome pay packet and finally start enjoying life..." 3 months later, here I am...having done 3 jobs in 3 months and moving on to the 4th..it makes me think a little of the past...of all that i have wanted to be, all that i was...

When i was little (very little..mind you!) i wanted to be a nun (i know a lot of people would laugh..) complete with t black habit, hood and rosary...just like in 'The sound of music'...but that dream ended quickly...as soon as i heard that nuns sleep on plywood, eat less, pray alot and worst of all, don't have Dutch Lady UHT chocolate milk..YIKES!!

Then one day, I heard my mum say in passing that lawyers earned a lot and all you have to do is talk..that made an impression in my young mind...and after that, all that i really wanted was to be a lawyer...until, i read in the local papers that a lawyer got shot with a gun in a busy highway! i mean i wanted money...just not enough to die for it...

So for a long time in my young life, i was floating...whenever any adult asked me what i wanted to be, i'll just shrug and say 'dont know'...and they'll give me this weird look and start singing 'que sera sera...' (aarghh!! after a while i hated that song..who was SERA anyway? and why did she ask SO MANY questions??)

I ran through all the possibilities..doctor (blood - YUCK!!), teacher (kids - ICKY!!), fire/policewomen (uniform not 'girly'), nurse (uniform pretty but patients not pretty...) and the list kept going on and on..

When I reached upper secondary, i more or less started having better ideas (thanks to a wider vocabulary)...for a while i wanted to be a journalist (then i realised i dont like writing serious stuff like news) or a newscaster (but then again, i am afraid of going in front of people)...then i just knew it! i wanted to be RICH and FAMOUS but that wasnt really a job...hmmm...

So after form 5, i did my 1st real job, at my uncle's tour agency and I decided i would own a travel agency, so much money and a chance to meet so many foreigners (and who knows, i might even find myself a rich and handsome foreign boyfriend!! like in the movies where foreign princes come undercover and fall for normal girls and make them famous but then not many princes actually come to Malaysia now, do they?)

So, i went on to do form 6 and then went to work in a bank...have to admit, it was pretty fun...high pay (for an 18 year old..), pretty clothes, off days...and then i thought "this is it! i am gonna be a banker!!" then offer for university came and i said again "why be a banker when i can be a scientist??" so i went on to do 4 grueling years in a science course and came out convinced that i NEVER wanted anything to do with science!

In between those 4 years, I worked as a promoter, customer service assistant, salesgirl and even a stint as a medical lab technologist..and i although i liked it all, i didnt think i would spend my whole life doing any one of it...so i came out of university thinking..(again).."this is it! i am gonna be a banker!!" but eventually i started working as a barista (where i learnt how to make and drink awesome coffee) then i went into a hotel as a front desk assistant (where i decided most rich people are silly and think too much of themselves and so do the staff who handle them..geez..they are people, not GOD!!) and then i struck closer to home and worked as an underwriter...honestly i hated the job! it was monotonous and boring and repetitive..but i kinda loved my friends..they were nice and funny..which got me to think...of all the people that i have met during my 'job experience'

Taking it from the top...in Donaplus T&T, Mr Ganash Suppiah, Ravi shankar uncle, Pastor Dass, in HSBC, Budi, Andy Wong Dai Fatt, Prenisha, Rayven, Sheila akka, Mr Tay Tian Siang, Geetha, in Memory lane, Miss Penny, Joanne, Ken, Kak Ina...in Awana Vacation, Kak Meera and Nurul...in Dutch Lady promotions, Wilson Tan, Fong, Michelle, Shue Feng (her name means snow..) and the 2nd time, alex, bharani, vince, carmen, in Assunta, Angeline, Yamuna, Mr Patrick, Suresh anna, Eeswari, Bairavee, Koh chin yoke, norma...in starbucks, andy, abg hazim, abg khairul, sia pei chun, farid, fatiha, izuddin..in the hotel, kesavan anna, velu anna, muthu, velan, vick anna, jolene..in Hong Leong Assurance, Ku Weng Kia, Eunice Quak Sheau Huay, Nicholas Liew, Oscar, Cherylyn, Kak Nor, the security kakak (i dont know her name)..and then there are the faces..i remember everything about them except their names..in their own way, they have each made a difference in my life, they took something and left something..a memory, a smile, some tears...

And now, here i am again..about to go to yet another job..in Maxis...Is this where I find my niche? Have I finally found home? honestly i dont know..what do i want to be? that is one question that is again going unanswered...

Little.

The little things…

It always is, isn’t it? The little things…although seemingly little at the time…it changes, manipulates and influences almost all the biggest decisions and events…like the little stone in the hand of Shepard boy David that brought down the giant philistine Goliath, like ‘little boy’ that blew Hiroshima to smithereens, like a little raindrop that causes floods that sweep whole villages away…its always the little things, isn’t it? They can make you and they can break you…

The little things makes a lot of difference you see...like, have you tasted custard left just a little too long on the stove? it either congeals too much or it burns...or if you add just a bit too much salt to food, how it blocks every other flavor...and you think to yourself, if only I came a second earlier or if only I put in a little lesser...

Or remember the time you woke up 5 minutes later or couldn't find the keys or maybe stopped to let an old lady pass or even stopped to pick up a coin on the road only to reach the bus stop and find that you have missed the bus by a fraction of a second and had to wait aeons for the next one...and you think to yourself "one second, just ONE bloody second..."

Then there are the little words or gestures that are said and done..or even unsaid and left undone...like when you receive a call from somebody offering a job which you have waited for, for like months and saying everything you knew you had to say and then, the moment you hang up, you realise that you forget to ask them their name and when you call back, you don't know who spoke to you...or that time when you waited months for a call back, and the day they decide to call you, your phone battery dies because you left it on a minute too long, or charged it a minute to less or maybe it was just that one day that you decided charging can just wait a little longer coz u were too lazy to do it...

The little things can be mean at times...like when you see a chick fall out from its nest, and just when you're about to reach it, a cat swoops down on it for dinner...or when you see a glass too close to the table's edge, and you tell yourself "nah...it won't fall" and then it just does, when somebody accidentally flicks it with their little finger...

The little things...they really go a big way...the little smiles, the little sorry's, the little touch, the little memories...the little things...seemingly small when you have them, leaves a big impact only when its lost...

My coffee Experience...

My coffee experience..

I just want a bloody coffee!! That’s what I really wanted to scream, the first time I stepped into STARBUCKS..who wouldn’t if this happened…

Barista: Hi welcome to Starbucks (excitedly..)
ME: uhh..hi..(somewhat hesitantly..obviously it wasn’t a good day..)
Barista: So what would you like today?
ME: Just coffee please..
Barista: OOOkaaay..(Now with a look that said “Really? Just coffee? Is there even such a thing? Hello!! )we actually have a few types of coffee..would you like it black or…
ME: Owh..with milk please..
Barista: So would you like to try a latte, cappuccino, macchiato or just an Americano or brewed coffee with milk on the side?
ME: Err..I guess I would have the coffee with milk on the side (with a face that I think that a Neanderthal would have when spoken to in English…)
Barista: You must mean the brewed coffee then…short, tall, grande or venti?
ME: I’m sorry, what?
Barista: I mean the SIZE ma’am..what s-i-z-e would you like? (showing me cups in different sizes like I was Martian and he was the earthling trying to communicate)
ME: That one! (pointing at the smallest mug)
Barista: Ok..would that be hot or iced?
ME: Hot.
Barista: Having here or take-away?
ME: Having here…
Barista: would you like room for your milk?
ME: Yes..(when I really wanted to say, “no I prefer a whole house”)
Barista: Would you like an extra shot?
ME: Ermm..No (shot? Was he going to shoot me??)
Barista: Would you like to add on any syrup?
ME: Maybe?
Barista: Vanilla? Hazelnut? Caramel?
ME: erm…vanilla I guess…
Barista: would you like your milk steamed?
ME: no please (with a look of horror…why would I want it steamed? Wouldn’t it vaporize?)
Barista: Would you like to have something to eat with that?
ME: No…just the coffee…
Barista: Would you like to purchase a reusable tumbler? You would enjoy a discount every time you use it in our stores…even now…
ME: No thank you…maybe some other time…
Barista: That would be RM 6.95…would it be cash or credit?
ME: Cash…(handing it over…)
Barista: Your drink would be ready in a minute…
ME: ok…
Barista: enjoy your drink and please come again (I don’t really think he meant the second part)
ME: Yeaaa thanks I guess…

That event scarred my life... “never was I going to Starbucks again”, or so I thought…but the addiction had already set in..a few years later, the addiction reached a peak. I needed my caffeine fix more often than before and ‘normal’ coffee just wasn’t cutting it…I was spending more and more on a cup of coffee than on whole meals…so when I got an opportunity to work at Starbucks, I jumped at it…free coffee and I get paid at the same time…but, I told myself, I would never be like that barista whom I had met years earlier…until…

(after a few weeks at starbucks…)

Customer: Could I have some water please?
ME: Hot, cold or plain water, ma’am?
Customer: Cold please..
ME: Would you like it in a mug or take-away cup ma’am?
Customer: a mug is fine…
ME: What size ma’am?
Customer: The small one will do…
ME: do you want ice with it?
Customer: yes please…
ME: Would you like me to add the ice into the water or put it separately?
Customer: Put it in, put it separately, or DON’T PUT IT AT ALL!! CAN I JUST HAVE A BLOODY CUP OF WATER!!!!
ME: Of course…here you go…enjoy your day (smiling…)
Customer: Finally!! Thank you…

And all that…just for a cup of water…

My Life Lately..

A lot of things have changed in my life lately..my weight being the most obvious 1..but that aside..what i would really have to talk about is where i am now. This point in life. Why am I here? Where am I going to? and how am I going to make it? and when I do, who am I going to be?

Its my 4th and Final year in university...When i was younger, it was THE place that I wanted to be (I mean not UPM specifically..but somewhere doing my higher education which i personally would have preferred if it was somewhere over seas but...gotta be happy with what life gives you.. :p) But now, when am actually here (and almost leaving..) I'm thinking...is this what I really want in life? Life in university teaches you a lot of things, many people would swear to that..but what does it actually teach you? It changes you..but into what?

I would have to admit, there were the good times, the bad times and the really horrid times..Speaking for myself and analyzing my life alone...i feel that I am a lot worse than I started out. Its like after Adam and Eve ate the apple and had their eyes opened. If somebody would have asked them 10 years later, they would have definitely said that 'Ignorance is bliss...'

As a child, the only thing that I ever wanted to do (other than to play with my toys and watch cartoons and steal all my brother's Lego pieces that made his truck..) was to grow up. Other than the obvious reasons of wanting to stay up late and going out with the other adults, but it was also so I could EXPRESS my opinions, be who I want to be, make my OWN choices and not have someone else tell me that my opinions don't matter because I am not old enough and tell me to do things because THEY know what's best for me...but as I grew up (and even more since I came to university) I realised that, the older you got, the more people told you this...at least when you're younger, its only your parents (and know-it-all aunties and uncles). but as you get older, suddenly everyone knows better than you about your life. They tell you what to study, where to study, who to love, who to marry, what you should wear, what you should say..and better still, what to feel when you are faced with certain situations...

My question is, who made them the boss of my life? Who gave them the right to decide what I should do and who told them what would my future be like (not as if God came in THEIR dream and told them about MY future..and God forbid, if I do make the wrong choices and fail, SO WHAT??!! at least I learn...because at one point of my life, I would have to walk some paths alone..I would have to make some of my own decisions..If your always there to shine a torch on my path, what's gonna happen when you run out of batteries and I don't have a spare because I never needed them. Who's gonna tell me where to go then?

With that I rest my case...

AAR - Awesome, A**-kicking ,Rocking!! (31/10)

Last Saturday was my first ever concert! Never thought I would say it but...it was quite the trauma! but yet i loved it!! The loud music, the insane crowd, the long wait for the bands to set up, even the squashing when you had to get in ( Although i almost thought that i would have died if i had any more carbon dioxide and any less oxygen..) But really...it was all worth it! every drop of craziness..

I have come to realise several things about concerts..which I would hereby try and explain...

Firstly, the crowd was...indescribably..indescribable. It was like walking into a whole new universe...I have never seen so many different kinds of people in the same place at the same time..there were witches (hope it was just skin deep and not any deeper..), wizards (again..make-up n dress only i hope..), strippers ( less material more skin, all the rage..I couldnt understand the motivation though, were they there to SEE or to be SEEN?? Why do you pull up your tshirts? If you really dared, why not wear it that way from home??), kids (she must have been 9 at the most, and she already gets to go for a concert!! and i have to wait till i am 23..syeesh!) , parents (who probably didnt trust their kids..but seeing their kids, they had a good reason not to..), freaks, geeks and fashionistas..there was something for everyone!

The show started 'on-time', exactly 1 hour later than scheduled (so very Malaysian..) with local bands Disagree, Pop Shuvit and One Buck Short. The local acts were pretty good, actually they were quite awesome (contrary to popular belief..) Disagree even had a brass/school band thing and even malay traditional music for their songs..During intervals between one band and another, freebies were given away by natalie and ean of Hitz.fm. They threw it to the crowd, in front of me (natalie's lack of upper arm strength..ugh) or behind me (ean's excess upper arm strength..) but never reaching me (sad!)..After the local acts were done and the crowd was fired up for All American Rejects, we had to (unfortunately) wait for them to set up (and we waited and we waited and we waited and we..well you get the idea..). But it was worth the wait though..Tyson Ritter( lead singer of AAR is quite a piece of work! (Really..) he was somewhere between weird and...weirder! For those who didnt like AAR music, at least they had something to watch..

Actually, I think i would have really enjoyed the show if some things didnt happen though..One of them being this over-excited, over-energetic, over-...just over-everything boy who just kept jumping (not the problem..) and landing on my foot (obviously a problem..) for about 4 times resulting in a swollen toe the next day and scrapped, split skin..I mean hey, i get the enthusiasm and all but practice landing on the GROUND before you take up flying will you..geez!! But i guess, I loved that guy more compared to another one..a very interesting character..since he reminded me of someone I know..

Now this guy came with his girlfriend (no comments on her looks..) and I bet just about a thousand other people would have done the same but then, this guy must not have realised that since he practically acted like a 'human barricade' to keep other people (and i mean boys AND girls..) from touching her. This i found to be quite disconcerting since there was barely room to BREATHE! and here he was trying to 'make' space so his girlfriend will not come into contact with anyone's skin other than his...Syeesh! if you're that insecure, just get tape the show and watch it at home or better still just get the CD!! Why come to concerts (practically free ones at that) knowing that the place is going to be teeming with people and torture others and yourself as well??? He was the most selfish, weird guy that i have met and would hope never to meet again.Period.

There was also another character, more like a story i think..it neither made my day nor made it worse..its actually irrelevant to my feelings about the concert but worth the mention I think..there was this boy there who's girlfriend must have come later and couldnt find her way to him (not surprising since he asked her to look for a red balloon and there was only about a gazillion red balloons there..boys and directions!), so when he actually found her he kept banging her about it until she sulked..For a while I thought, "geez, such a pity that they were pretty miserable when everyone else was having so much fun..they would probably regret it later that they missed the show, if I was her, I would have ignored him, enjoyed the show first and deal with him later..." but i guess my thoughts were short-lived, a moment later she was all over him..maybe she thought, the fun was too much to miss or she decided that loud music and horrible crowds and red balloons wasn't enough to break her relationship or...well I dunno..and I couldnt find out anyway since she had to..'leave early' (not that I would have asked her even if she stayed..) hmm...

A lot of things changed for me that night, my views on the world and what have the younger generation come to this days..my ideas and feelings on certain things..and well lot of other mentionable and unmentionable things..But one thing for sure, I truly enjoyed my first ever concert ( and hopefully not the last one although currently i am not raring to go for another one any time soon..just too traumatic!)..

Now I just need one more thing to make my social life complete..go clubbing! (when will that day come, I wonder...)

P/S: I really do thank the person who took me for this concert..you have made a difference in my life in more ways than one)... :)

So long, Farewell, auf Wiedersehen, adieu..

Retrospect PART 1

The place looked deserted. There wasn’t a human being in sight! I couldn’t really be the only one here now, can I? I looked up and down the corridor, couldn’t see a soul that I could ask for help. It was technically my first day in university. It sounds so weird even when I say it.

“I am an undergraduate now…” wow.

I was excited and yet at the same time I dreaded this moment. Something deep down inside told me that I wasn’t supposed to be here. It wasn’t where I belonged. My heart was practically screaming ‘turn back, turn back! Before it’s too late…” I had a feeling that this place I am in is a house made of candy just like in ‘Hansel and Gretel’ and I was none other than Gretel, the smarter of the two but yet so attracted by the dazzling sight before her eyes that she walks straight into a trap of the evil witch and an evil witch I did meet, my genetics lecturer although, she looked all nice and friendly and nothing like a witch then. But that was a story for later. Minutes later, I was led into a room full of…people and I really mean a ROOM FULL. There were about 80 people there. The first person who met my eye was an Indian girl who was an epitome of all things…erm...Indian…she was even dressed in a Salwar Kameez. I wouldn’t even wear it to church, let alone class. I met some other people too but it was all a blur on the first day. Not a cute boy within a 100 mile radius. Later, I came to know that the number was actually 83 including me and these people were my classmates. People whom I were to share the same classroom with, listen to the same lectures with, people I would see in the corridor, basically I would live with them, every day of my life, for the next 4 or so years. I had only one class that day (which was a relief really!) so I could go back to my room and meet my room-mate. Technically I had already met her; I just haven’t spoken to her yet. When I came into the room yesterday, she was on the phone and by the time she got off, I was sleeping and on this morning she was gone even before I woke up.

I went to my room (half of it was mine, anyway…) and the first thing I was to miss about home was having lunch served on the table. My table was bare. Thank god for Maggi-Mi 2 minit (but it tasted better if it was only soaked for 1 and a half minute). I must have been a pitiful sight, sitting alone on an empty bed, eating instant noodles for lunch, looking at the bare wall because I had nothing to do (I didn’t even have a laptop back then…horror!), for when my room-mate came in, she smiled and said,

“Enough ah, eat Maggi only?” to which I just idiotically smiled since my mother thought me never to speak with my mouth full. A while later, after going through a million super-lame lines on how to introduce myself (Geez, who knew it was so difficult!), I did the Standard One textbook version of,

“hi, my name is Sharon. You are…” (and even shook hands!! Syeesh…)

She left for her classes soon after, thankfully, since it was pretty awkward to sit in a room with someone and just stare, and smile awkwardly and avert your gaze when you happen her eyes. That’s when I decided to text my old school friend (who dropped out of my favour after she booked me for having long nails! Kidding…Still love her and we are still friends, since she can’t book me anymore…hehehe…) and what do you know! She lived behind my house…finally I felt that the heavens had pity on me and decided to give me some saving grace…or in my case a friend (which meant much more than saving grace at that moment!) I spent the whole day with her and only went back to my room after I was sure my room-mate was sleeping and she was…

To be continued...